Rosario Dawson‘s Studio 189: Fashion with a Purpose
Rosario Dawson caught our eyes in the 90s as an actor on the big screen in iconic films such as Kids and He Got Game. The Afro-Latina actor and activist is also a co-founder of Studio 189, one of the most popular enduring Black-owned brands out right now. Her long-time friend and co-founder, Abrima Erwiah, is a business pro who got her start in the luxury fashion space at Bottega Veneta. After a trip to the Congo together that changed both of their lives, the two decided to launch their sustainable fashion line Studio 189, which would incorporate the natural materials of the motherland and the techniques and craftsmanship of the continent’s under-recognized artisans.Made and produced in Africa, the brand focuses on working with sustainable natural fibers, such as organic cotton from Burkina Faso, and repurposing recycled materials from cotton and glass. In 2018, Erwiah and Dawson’s eco efforts in style received industry acclaim as their brand was awarded the prestigious CFDA Lexus Fashion Initiative prize for Sustainability.
Models wear Studio189 clothing in fashion feature photographed in Lagos, Nigeria by Keith Major for EBONY Media.below,EBONY caught up with Erwiah on what moved her and Dawson to start the sustainable fashion brand and how empowering their community keeps them powering through.
EBONY: what brought about the creation of the brand?
Abrima Erwiah: I remember working in the luxury fashion space and looking around and not seeing very many people who looked like me. I was moving forward and rising but what does it all mean if we do not all rise together? I know that my opportunities exist because people struggled, sacrificed and helped me get to where I am. I saw so many people who looked just like me when I would visit my country, for example, who had a lack of access.
Why should you have to beg for charity money because of the passport that you carry? Or where you’re from? Or the color of your skin? I wanted to work together and create a project where I could use my skills and transfer them and give a path to others as many people have done for me.
I started working for luxury goods companies including Cesare Paciotti, John Lobb, Hermès and Bottega Veneta. I believed in the principles of what luxury goods stood for including the pursuit of excellence, high-quality standards, innovation and techniques passed down from generation to generation. I would visit first and second-generation artisans in Italy, and I would see how their country and the world treated them with dignity and respect and how they were able to earn a living doing their work and have control over their destiny and their family’s destinies.
Meanwhile, when I would visit my family in Ghana, or when I would visit other developing economies, I would see so many people doing amazing craftwork and creating unbelievable work but have trouble accessing the market. I could see first-hand the inequities.
I spoke
Studio 189: A Brand Rooted in Sustainability and Empowerment
Studio 189 Cotton screen-print T-shirt
Price: $45
How did you decide that sustainability was the direction you wanted to take your brand?
The path chose us. We knew we wanted to create a brand that allowed people to take control of their own destinies. We knew we wanted to create a brand that put humanity at the heart of it. The more you trace the journey of where your products come from, the more you realise their impact. You meet the people that are working on them – from the farmers to the dyers, to the weavers, to the sewers and onwards. You see the interconnectivity of people and the planet, and you see how the movement of people and materials and culture converge and diverge over hundreds of years. You understand the power of fashion to directly impact people’s lives.We started because we saw people who looked like us,and we saw that they were not included in the market.We also realized that so many resources were often extracted and value-added in other countries, with a lack of recognition of those that protected those resources, and with a lack of investment made into adding value to the raw materials on a localized level. We realized people in marginalized communities were already doing the work, but often going unrecognized.we realized that it was important that we work together and that we create a system that is self-sufficient.
When we started it was not called “sustainable” fashion. These nomenclatures came later.We mostly just wanted to be a part of the growth of an African fashion industry that we saw as closely connected to a global fashion industry and that we thought could have a greater impact than aid if the proper infrastructure was built to allow it to be sustainable. Just as we have had the opportunity to grow our careers, we felt like other communities should also have the same access where possible.
When you are learning statistics including fashion’s impact on the planet and you are seeing it’s impact firsthand in your work, I think it shifts your perspective.